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Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Nyctanassa violaceaOrder: CICONIIFORMESFamily: Bitterns, Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)
Yellow-Crowned Heron Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: Dagger
  • Eye Color: Pale yellow upon hatching, then deep yellow, to orange-yellow, to orange, orange-scarlet at maturity.
  • Head Pattern: Eyeline, Capped, Crested or plumed, Eyering (complete or broken), Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown Color: Yellow-white
  • Forehead Color: Yellow-white
  • Nape Color: Black and gray.
  • Throat Color: Gray
  • Cere color: No Data
Yellow-Crowned Heron Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 56-71 cm (22-28 in)
  • Weight: 726 g (25.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 4. Large (16 - 32 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray, Yellow
  • Underparts: Gray
  • Upperparts: Gray
  • Back Pattern: Striped or streaked, Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Direct flight with deep steady wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 107-112 cm (42-44 in)
  • Wing Shape: Broad-Wings, Pointed-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Squared Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Gray
  • Under Tail: Gray
  • Leg Color: Yellow
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Family Herons and Egrets (Ardeidae)_blue
Species Nyctanassa violacea
Length22 - 28 Inches
Wingspan43 Inches

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Medium-sized, stocky heron with gray body and brown-and-white mottled wings. Face is black and white; crown is pale yellow and sweeps back as a plume. Eyes are large and red. Bill is heavy and black. Legs and feet are yellow. Direct flight with steady, deep wing beats.

● Song: Generally silent

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Food consists primarily of crustaceans, but also eats small fish, reptiles, amphibians, eels, insects, and mollusks; forages in open water, mud flats, and in partially submerged vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Two to eight pale blue green eggs are laid in a nest made of sticks built in a tree or occasionally on the ground; nests singly or in small colonies, sometimes with other heron species. Incubation ranges from 21 to 25 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Adults are distinct; juvenile is distinguished from American Bittern by pale spotting on upperwing, red eye, lack of black neck spot, and stouter bill. Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron has larger spots, more slender, longer bill, and shorter legs.

Flight Pattern

Direct flight with deep steady wing beats.
Yellow-Crowned Heron Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: Breeds from southern New England to Florida and west to Texas, mainly near coasts but in the interior north to Minnesota and along Mississippi River and its larger tributaries. Spends winters along the Gulf Coast and on Atlantic coast north to South Carolina. Preferred habitats include wooded swamps and coastal thickets.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationStable
MigrationMigratory
Weight25.6 Ounces